Oregon Gubernatorial Candidates Debate Education, Housing and Abortion in Bend – Oregon Capital Chronicle
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Oregon’s three gubernatorial candidates got another chance to differentiate themselves in the first televised debate Tuesday night in Bend.
Democrat Tina Kotek, Republican Kristin Drazan, and independent candidate Betsey Johnson answered questions from residents of Central Oregon in front of the Oregon State University Cascade student and staff auditorium.
The debate was mostly quiet as the candidates adhered to the allotted time limit and acknowledged that they had agreed to the issue.Some of their harshest words were reserved for the current Democratic governor, Gov. Kate Brown, who was the least popular governor in the United States, according to a May poll.
abortion
The sharpest thorn of the night came during a segment on abortion, which Kotec has attempted to make one of the biggest issues in its campaign since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade earlier this summer. Abortion is legal in Oregon at all stages of pregnancy.
Kotek defends a 2017 law that guarantees access to abortion at no cost to patients and was endorsed by Oregon’s Planned Parenthood Advocates. Johnson is a former board member of Planned Parenthood and said that because it is a “wholly owned subsidiary of the Democratic Party,” it is not allowed to compete for the endorsement of reproductive health care providers.
Planned Parenthood disputed that allegation, sending a press release midway through the debate, saying Johnson never responded to an invitation to participate in the approval process, nor did he inquire about how to be approved.
Drazan, on the other hand, echoed her mantra of supporting Oregon’s laws, even though she is a “pro-life woman.” and criticized state subsidies to abortion providers to cover increased demand from out-of-state patients seeking abortions as state funding for “abortion tourism.”
“This is a lightning rod problem for Oregonians, and they use this as a way to distract themselves from their failing records,” Drazan said. It means we need to change states and I will follow the law.”
Kotek countered that by directing government agencies or blocking funding, governors have a lot of leeway to limit access to abortion, even with legislation in place.
housing
In the fast-growing city of Bend, the median home price has risen to $800,000. In nearby Redmond he is in the $500,000 range, on par with the much larger city of Portland.
In response to a question about housing, both Kotek and Johnson said Oregon has built fewer homes than it needs over decades.
Addressing this shortage means building 36,000 homes a year over the next decade, working with local authorities to expedite the permitting process, and training more young people in construction, Kotek said. says. She also supports building homes manufactured using trout her timber from Oregon forests.
Johnson said it’s time to reassess Oregon’s nearly 50-year-old law that limits where and how cities can expand.
“Congress needs to get out of the homebuilding business,” she said. “We need to stop teaching developers and home builders how to do their jobs. I have to be able to.”
Similarly, Drazan said state regulations are driving up housing costs.
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education
Candidates found a rare consensus on higher education, with all three pledging support for community colleges and seven public universities in Oregon.
“We have to stop institutions from cannibalizing each other,” Johnson said. “We have seven colleges, he said, all of which are fighting over money to the detriment of each other. I have.”
Kotek is committed to ensuring that community colleges have stable and sustainable funding, and to the Oregon Opportunity Grant, which will help more than 30,000 low-income Oregonians get financial assistance as needed each year. said it will focus on increasing funding for
Universities should help students graduate in four years, Drazan said, allowing credits to be transferred from college-level courses from community colleges or high schools to keep costs down for students. said there was a need.
Opinions were divided on how to approach K-12 education: disappointing standardized test scores A survey released last week showed that just 44% of students are good at reading and 30% are proficient in math. 9 points down from 2019.
“The test scores are unacceptable, which is not too surprising given how difficult the past two years have been.
She said students told her they needed smaller classes, more career and technical education options, and mental health support.
Both Johnson and Drazan called for returning to “core competencies” and focusing class time on math, reading and other core subjects.
All three criticized Brown’s response to school closures during the Covid pandemic. He said he did not agree with the decision.
Drazan, the only candidate with children of school age, said she saw first-hand the debilitating effect that nearly two years of not attending school had on young children. He accused the government of failing to support the government’s efforts to reopen schools.
business support
Johnson and Drazan denounced business regulation and said small businesses, especially farmers, were struggling because of punitive state agencies.
“Regulators have become punitive and retaliatory, punishing farmers and producers quickly,” Johnson said. “Not so much when Portland pumps raw sewage into Willamette, but if you’re a farmer or dairy farmer in Tillamook and you’re trying to clean out the gutters, you’re going to have state regulators all over the place. increase.”
Kotek noted that regulations the business community opposed included paid sick leave and equal pay for equal work, and questioned which regulations they opposed.
gun
Gun violence has been a top concern for residents of Central Oregon since the August shooting at Safeway in North Bend. That weekend, a shooter killed his employees, customers, and himself, and five people died in his five shootings in Portland and Salem.
Oregon voters will decide whether to enact Bill 114 in November. The bill would ban large ammunition depots and require permits and training before buying firearms. Kotek was the only company to say it supported the move, while Johnson said he supported raising the gun-buying age from 18 to 21.
Johnson, a self-described gun owner, said he believes Measure 114 will overburden small police departments. But she said she supports raising the minimum age and stricter background checks. This includes requiring schools to submit information about students who need mental health services and should not be allowed access to guns.
Drazan said the shooting in Bend was due to mental health issues, and tighter gun control wouldn’t help.
“People facing extreme mental health problems were keen to hurt others and were able to do so effectively,” Drazan said. More gun control laws won’t prevent all tragedies.”
drugs
Johnson and Drazan pledged to repeal Bill 110, a 2020 voter-approved law that would decriminalize possession of small amounts of hard drugs. In addition to decriminalization, the law was intended to provide more funding for addiction services, but it is only recently that those funds have reached communities.
Johnson said the law, combined with the problem of cartels illegally growing marijuana in southern Oregon, has made Oregon an attractive place for drug abusers. If she doesn’t send the bill back to voters to get it, she said she will lead a petition to repeal it.
Kotek said the Oregon Department of Health was “incompetent” and Brown was “absent” in making sure money got to those in need.
“As your governor, I will work harder and more effectively to ensure that new revenue streams are used for more treatments in our communities,” she said. “But we won’t walk away from this issue. People are dying. We have to take it seriously. Measure 110 may be imperfect, but it doesn’t mean throwing everything away.” Let’s focus on solving problems and getting people to get medical care.”
Drazan said people were dying because of the laws that allowed drug use and funded needle swaps around addiction treatment.
“That’s the definition of Tina Kotek’s approach to the governor’s office,” Drazan said. “Don’t change course. Don’t turn. Keep doing the same thing more. Oregonians need a change.”
The candidates will debate again next week in Portland.
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